It appears to be driven originally by man’s desire to have power over woman’s sexuality, to remove fear of paternity uncertainty by keeping women chaste, and uninterested in love affairs, but the lasting practice has become so rooted in those societies that it is now perpetuated even by women upon women all over the world…

Female circumcision is frequently described as an “age-old Muslim ritual”; in fact, it predates Islam, and is even believed to be pre-Judaic. Strabo claimed that “the Egyptians circumcised their boys and girls as do the Jews”. The Virgin Mary was likewise said to have been circumcised (Briffault R76v3 324). Islamic traditions say that it was practiced by Sarah on Hagar, and that afterwards both Sarah and Abraham circumcised themselves by the order of Allah (the Old Testament makes no mention of female circumcision, while making it mandatory for men). There is no evidence that any of Muhammad’s wives or daughters were ever circumcised? While there is no mention of it in the Koran, an authentic hadith states: “A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet said to her: Do not cut severely, as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband”. Because of this hadith, some scholars of the Shafi’i school of Islam (found mostly in East Africa) consider female circumcision obligatory. The Hanafi and most other schools of Islamic thoughts maintain, ‘it is merely recommended, not essential’ (Goodwin).